Promise Me
by Reminiscent Lullaby
Summary: *Contains spoilers. Rated T for mild swearing* The night before Luke's death, Clementine has a talk with him and realizes that he hasn't been the same since they first met. What words can be said to comfort a troubled friend in the midst of the apocalypse?


**This is my first Walking Dead fanfic. I've always loved the dynamic between Clementine and Luke (I always thought of them as brother and sister), so I decided to write a short, quick convo between them. It's said in the summary, and I'll say it again, this contains a few spoilers for Season 2. **

**I hope you enjoy! And remember to review!**

**I do not own The Walking Dead or anything associated with it.**

Clementine startled awake.

She lay on the cold floor of the power station, tightly curled in a ball before a dying fire, its embers faintly glowing a deep orange that managed to illuminate the rest of the shelter. Across from her, Mike sat up against the fence, his eyes closed. He fidgeted restlessly every few moments. Bonnie lay on her side next to him, the light from the fire revealing a peaceful expression on her face as she slept.

On Mike's other side was Jane, still as a corpse, but Clementine could see her troubled dreams in her countenance. She knew somewhere, the young woman was visiting her past ever so quietly, ever so secretively.

Clem glanced next over to Kenny, who at last was asleep after protesting against letting someone else take watch. He held Alvin Jr. in his tired arms. The infant lay against Kenny's torn jacket, sleeping just as soundly as everyone else.

She sat up, sore from the hard ground beneath her. After stretching her arms, she looked over her shoulder at Arvo, still tightly trapped in his bindings. Seeing him, Clem felt a sharp pang of guilt in her chest. It wasn't his fault, why couldn't Kenny see that? It had been her and Jane that stole from him, and all Arvo wanted was to return the crime. It sounded harsh when said out loud, of course, but Clem knew that in the world that they lived in, something like that shouldn't be held against him, especially suffering a loss like he had. Things like that just weren't fair, and Arvo wasn't getting enough sympathy for it. The Russian boy sat up beside the pole. Clementine could see that he was awake, but who could sleep like that anyway?

She sighed and stood up, stretching and brushing herself off. She didn't want to fall back asleep. Something had woken her, something that she didn't recall, but didn't want to face again when she closed her eyes. That'd been happening a lot actually

"Clem?"

She whirled around. Luke leaned against the transformer, his gun in hand, and bad leg limp. He had taken watch after Kenny, despite Bonnie and Mike insisting that he rest. Clementine knew that he was trying to prove he was still competent after being shot, but she didn't see how waiting up most of the night would help.

"Luke," she whispered, "Can I come join you?"

"'Course, kid," he said with a smile, before sliding down the surface of the transformer and sitting down against it's metal.

Clem walked gingerly over to her friend. Something didn't quite look right in his face, but she couldn't tell what

"How's your leg?" Clementine asked cautiously.

Luke's smile faded almost as soon as it came with a solemn glance down at his bandaged wound. "I don't know. It still hurts like hell. Bonnie insists that I keep off it for a while, but I dunno how long that'll be for." He looked back over at Clementine. "I don't wanna be a burden on y'all."

"You won't be," Clem assured him. "You're an important part of this group, and you'll be better soon."

"Let's hope," Luke sighed.

There was an unsteady quiet between them, every so often being challenged by a sharp breath between the two of them, as if they wanted to say something, but decided against it. Every unspoken word faded back into the frigid breezes that swirled among them, and was carried off into the unfamiliar land around. Clementine shivered, her breathing icy and uneven.

Luke noticed this. "It really ain't all that smart to be traveling north this time of year."

"I'm sure we can make it," said Clementine optimistically, jamming her freezing hands in the pockets of her coat.

His gaze traveled down to the snow-dusted ground. Clementine could see something in his eyes that emanated a hundred different emotions, none of which she could truly make out, but she saw that with everything put together, he looked completely stunned, shocked, confused. She'd never seen him that way, desperate maybe, but he didn't look like himself, not at all like the Luke she knew from the start. "Easier said than done," he murmured. "That's how everything is these days. One day you're convinced that you can successfully lead six other people to safety, and the next you're all alone."

"But you aren't alone yet, Luke," said Clementine. "You still have the rest of us. You still have me."

"And for how long?" he said, before letting out a pained sigh. "Well, it ain't exactly you I'm worried 'bout, but everything else. You just gotta wonder what's gonna happen if you end up completely by yourself."

Clementine blinked. "Well, I did once," she said. "And you know what happened?"

Luke said nothing.

"You saved me."

"Anyone would have done the same."

"No, actually they wouldn't have," Clem said, almost bitterly. "Don't you remember? They locked me in a shed, Rebecca thought I was working for Carver, Nick almost shot me!" She pointed at him. "If it hadn't been for you, who knows where I would be. I might have died!"

"It feels like...such a long time ago," Luke whispered. "Years. Maybe it's because you fit in so well. You stuck with us, even after watching all them die." His voice broke at the last word.

"I was taught to always keep the group together. It's safer that way. I still remember what you said to me before crossing that bridge leading to the ski lodge." She placed a hand on his knee. "It's a tough world out there without people you can trust."

"Yeah, I remember that. Forgot for a long time, though." Luke scratched his nose. "I just-Clem, I...I just don't want to lead anyone else into danger. I know you tell me it ain't my fault, but it's hard to be convinced when you think about all that's happened. It's harder than you think to leave your past behind, especially in a world like this when it's so damn easy to screw up."

An image of Lee flashed before her eyes, interrupting the cool darkness ahead. Clementine flinched as his hand reached out to her, only to fade into the black depths of night. She closed her eyes tightly, making two very different wishes, one for Lee to come back, and the other for him to vanish from her memory, just to save herself the anguish. She needed one of them to be true, to feel whole again. Whenever she didn't suffer from the memories, it was always the former she wished for, but at a time when she could see him, _feel_ him there, she wouldn't mind if either one came to be.

"I know exactly how that feels," she murmured. "I'm sure we all do."

Luke looked at her thoughtfully. "Y'know, sometimes, it's difficult to remember that you're only eleven."

Clementine gazed back at him. She wanted to smile, but she couldn't find the will. Lee was still fresh in her mind, despite the image fading. It was like he was there right next to her, listening to the two of them speak, but every single time she'd look, he'd be gone. She was suddenly very, very cold. Colder than before. She brought her knees up to her chest.

"Have you ever thought about where you would be if it weren't for this?" he went on.

"Well-" her voice was hoarse so she cleared her throat. "Well, I'd probably be back home, in school. It's not that hard for me to figure it out."

"Damn, there it is again. Keep forgettin' your age." He laughed, but it was a broken laugh, sliced right through the middle with dejection and grief. She realized, Luke had kept strong all this time. There were moments when nearly everyone she met felt hopeless, all except Luke, at least not for any legitimate reason. Clem didn't reply; she didn't know how, but Luke seemed grateful for the silence.

She sat there for a while, looking off into the distance ahead. A black forest, colored with opaque shadows surrounded them. A dark ashy gray sky looked over ahead, as if it was about to descend down upon them in a thick layer of endless fog, cold an unpromising. She'd spent three years in this unpredictable world, three of her entire life, but she felt like she knew it like a friend. After all, she'd changed so much here, lost friends just as soon as she gained them, run for cover just as soon as she found safety. Clementine knew that this was what the rest if her life would be like, however long or tragic it may be. She wouldn't be able to escape the fear and the pain, but she'd accepted it, right as she pulled the trigger...

Meanwhile there was Luke, who she had thought was just as strong as she was, but perhaps all this time she had perceived him wrong. Maybe he himself thought that he could defy this new world's cruelty, or at least come to terms with it, but watching every one of his friends die probably shattered that false reality in a second.

Clementine put her head back and shut her eyes. Suddenly, she was very tired and wanted nothing more than morning to come, but she felt uneasy sitting beside Luke. There was an icy hole in the air, waiting to be filled.

"Well," she said, "Where do you see yourself?"

"What?" Luke asked.

"If none of this ever happened," said Clem. "Where would _you_ be?"

Luke was silent for a while. Clementine started to think that he hadn't heard her. Finally, he sighed. "I guess it ain't as easy for me to figure it out, but I'll tell you somethin' that I'm as sure as hell about, and that's that I'd be much happier than I am now."

"Who wouldn't be?"

He shrugged, gazing numbly at his injured leg. "Promise me somethin', Clem."

"What?"

"That whether I die tomorrow, or years from now, you tell me every single day, that you haven't lost hope."

She processed his words. They sounded so straight-forward, but she knew that they could mean a hundred different things, and whether it was one or all she didn't truly know. She fixed her hat and stared Luke in the eye when she spoke. "I promise," she said firmly.

Luke nodded, and patted her lightly on the shoulder. "Thanks, kid. You don't know how much that means to me."

Clementine gazed at him warmly. She finally felt herself smile.


End file.
